Union Pacific announces plans to invest $513m in Texas rail infrastructure

Union Pacific CFO to retire

Union Pacific has announced plans to invest $513m in 2016 to improve Texas’s transportation infrastructure. The company’s multi-million-dollar private investment is expected to enhance employee, community and customer safety and increase rail operating efficiency. Freight railroads like Union Pacific operate on track built and maintained without taxpayer funds.

Union Pacific’s planned investment is to cover a range of initiatives including $429m to maintain railroad track and $79m to maintain bridges in the state.

According to the company, this year’s planned $513m capital expenditure in Texas is part of an ongoing investment strategy. From 2011 to 2015, Union Pacific invested more than $3bn in Texas’s transportation infrastructure.

Brenda Mainwaring, Union Pacific vice president – Public Affairs, Southern Region, said of the announcement, “We constantly evaluate our customers’ needs to make targeted investments that enhance our efficiency and deliver the goods American businesses and families use daily,” adding, “Continuing to aggressively invest in our infrastructure is an important element in Union Pacific’s unwavering safety commitment.”

Union Pacific has announced plans to spend $3.75bn across its network this year, following investments totalling approximately $33bn from 2006-2015. According to the company, these investments contributed to a 25 percent decrease in derailments over the last 10 years.

Source: Union Pacific